Superstar Rajinikanth’s next film with popular director Lokesh Kanagaraj was announced on Monday, September 11. The movie is produced by Sun Pictures. Anirudh Ravichander will be composing the music. The project is tentatively titled Thalaivar 171. The rest of the cast is yet to be announced. The film’s announcement has sparked speculations whether this will be a standalone movie or part of the Lokesh’s ‘Lokiverse' - a cinematic universe where characters from Lokesh’s movies Kaidhi and Vikram cross paths and interact.
The Rajini-Lokesh collaboration was announced amid rumours of Lokesh walking out of the project, allegedly after being ‘upset’ with Rajinikanth.
Rajinikanth was last seen in Nelson Dilip Kumar’s Jailer where he plays a retired jailer on the quest to avenge his son’s death. The film turned out to be a huge blockbuster. Following the film’s success, producer Kalanithi Maran had gifted luxurious cars to Rajinikanth, Nelson and Anirudh.
Jailer starred Rajinikanth, Ramya Krishnan, Vasanth Ravi, Mirna Menon, and guest appearances by Mohanlal and Shiva Rajkumar.
At present Lokesh, who has directed hit movies like Kaidhi, Master, and Vikram, is busy with Vijay’s Leo. Leo is expected to hit the screens on October 19. The movie features Vijay in the lead role and from the trailer it appears to be an action thriller, similar to his earlier film Vikram and Kaidhi. Trisha is also set to act in Leo. This will be the first time Vijay and Trisha will be sharing the screen after a gap of 14 years. Fans are speculating whether Leo will come under ‘Lokiverse’. Anirudh has composed music for Leo as well.